RIM solution for message, email services; says no to enterprise mail

NEW DELHI: BlackBerry on Thursday said it has provided a solution for legally intercepting messenger and internet services, but denied such access on BlackBerry Enterprise Server, saying the company has "no ability to provide its customers' encryption key."

"The company has now delivered a solution that enables India's wireless carriers to address their lawful access requirements for our consumer messaging services, which includes BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and BlackBerry Internet Services ( BIS) e-mail," BlackBerry maker Research-in-Motion said in a statement.

However, the enablement of lawful access does not extend to BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), which is essentially an Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution.

"As we have stated on several occasions and as we have set our company's Principles for Addressing Lawful Access Matters, no change can be made to the security architecture for BES customers since, contrary to any rumors, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers' encryption keys," it said.

RIM cannot access information encrypted through BES given that neither RIM nor the wireless operators are ever in possession of the encryption keys, the company said.

Earlier, RIM had assured the Government that they will provide final solution for the lawful interception of BlackBerry Messenger services by January 31, 2011. The company had said that this was the understanding that they were to put in place the system by January 31.

"We are pleased to have delivered a solution well before a mutually agreed milestone date of January 31, 2011. We look forward to continue serving our Indian customers with industry products and services that deliver and unmatched mobile communications experience," the company added.

The lawful access capability, now available to RIM's carrier partners (the service providers who offer Blackberry services) meets the standards required by the government for all consumer messaging services offered in the Indian market place.

The company claimed that it has been assured that all the RIM's competitors must provide lawful access capabilities to this same standard if they have not done so already. BlackBerry has over one million subscribers in India, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the world in terms of new subscriber additions.

The Canada-based company has made it clear that its security systems are still cutting edge by saying, the company maintains a consistent global standard for lawful access requirements that does not include special deals for specific countries.